I wish to respond the Geoff Loadman’s letter that appeared in your paper on 5 September, 2007.
First let me sing praises to our national airline CAL for doing what they do best during the time of an impending storm and that is to put on the extra flights when no other carrier will even entertain the idea to evacuate those of us off the island who wish to leave.
I travelled on American Airlines one week after the passage of Hurricane Andrew when it hit south Florida and on my return I was told at the ticket counter at check-in that I had to pay an additional US$350 to return to Grand Cayman.
I had a prepaid return ticket in my hand and I was returning on the date and time I booked originally. There were no changes whatsoever.
The counter personnel was adamant that if I didn’t pay the additional price I simply couldn’t board this flight.
Being a Caymanian and returning home I finally succumbed to paying the extra charge because as the ticket agent advised it was because the price for the remaining seats were at a different rate and the price I paid originally for this seat price was full.
As it turned out my seat was in the back of the plane in row 26A. After making a fuss and demanding a supervisor send me an explanation in writing about this price increase, six months later I finally received a letter stating it was a computer glitch and they would be refunding me the money by way of a voucher that can be used on my next travel on American.
I am still waiting on the voucher and believe me I have requested this refund on several occasions since, but nothing.
I stopped flying American Airlines because if they are so incompetent about a refund then I cannot put the safety of my travels in their hands. Therefore, for so many to get hot under the collar about a computer glitch is senseless. CAL has acknowledged its mistake and agreed to make the refunds that only affected a few persons.
Can anyone honestly say that any other carrier would have done the same, and so quickly?
The good news is those persons affected by the glitch received a refund, which is more than I can say for my refund from American Airlines. I support our national airline Cayman Airways and thankfully we can all appreciate that they will be around to evacuate us when many others are long gone. That is why we need to be thankful, supportive and appreciative to CAL for the incredible service that their management and staff do so well. In my eyes in this regard CAL is priceless.
Kerry Horek
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